NSW Central Coast Nursing Home – Notice of Non-Compliance
The Department of Health and Ageing issued a formal Notice of Non-Compliance to Peninsula Village Retirement Centre, in relation to:
- The failure to report an alleged assault;
- The employment of staff without proper police checks; and
- Providing misleading information in regard to police checks.
The nursing home now has 14 days to respond to the notice.
An inadequate response may lead to the imposition of sanctions by the Department of Health and Ageing.
In addition, NSW Police are investigating the alleged assaults.
Peninsula Village Retirement Centre is a 263 resident facility located in Umina on the NSW Central Coast. It has 96 high care and 167 low care places.
On 22 October, during an unannounced visit by the Department of Health and Ageing’s Complaints Investigation Scheme, officers identified that the nursing home failed to report a reportable assault within the legislated 24 hour timeframe.
On 24 October, the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency identified nine staff with expired police checks.
Those staff at Peninsula Village Retirement Centre without proper police checks have been stood down by the nursing home.
Accreditation Agency assessors were at the nursing home on the weekend to ensure that an adequate level of staffing was available until the matter has been resolved.
Under the Aged Care Act, nursing homes are currently required to conduct police checks on staff with unsupervised access to residents.